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Zach Johnson swinging better than ever

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Zach Johnson and his swing coach, Mike Bender, spent some time on the practice tee at Elmcrest Country Club Sunday. Bender really liked what he saw. "Mechanically, it's as good as I've

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Zach Johnson and his swing coach, Mike Bender, spent some time on the practice tee at Elmcrest Country Club on Sunday. Bender really liked what he saw.

"Mechanically, it's as good as I've seen him," said Bender, who often videotapes Johnson's swing as a point of reference. "This one is going in the archives."

Johnson's timing couldn't be better. The Iowa native, in town to host the Zach Johnson Foundation Classic on Monday at Elmcrest, is heading into a pivotal part of his 2013 PGA Tour schedule.

"The state of my game is good," said Johnson, who in his last two starts lost a playoff to Jordan Spieth in defense of his John Deere Classic title and tied for sixth in the British Open. "I like where I'm at in all aspects. This is a big stretch coming up, but I know I'm prepared for it."

Johnson will play the next three weeks, starting Thursday at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. That will be followed by the season's fourth and final major, the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y. Then comes the Wyndham Championship, the final event before the FedExCup playoffs begin.

"I've certainly put myself in a place where more things can happen," said Johnson, currently 29th in the standings. "The FedEx Cup is obviously a huge priority. The cups, and that sort of thing, I'm pretty much focused on now. I'm really excited about Akron."

In addition to the playoffs, Johnson has a chance to make the Presidents Cup team for the third time in his career. He's currently 12th on the U.S. points list, getting passed by Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson last week. The top 10 automatically make the team after the Wyndham Championship. Fred Couples will also have two captain's picks. The Presidents Cup is Oct. 3-6 at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

Johnson will miss the first of the four playoff events, The Barclays Aug. 22-25 in Jersey City, N.J. He'll skip it to be the best man in his brother Gabe's wedding.

A nine-time winner on the PGA Tour, including the 2007 Masters, Johnson narrowly missed getting to double figures with the loss at the Deere. Johnson bogeyed the final hole of regulation, then saw Spieth win the title on the fifth playoff hole.

"The game demands you get over things like that," Johnson said. "It demands resilience and a short-term memory. You have to embrace the past. In that respect I'm going to embrace the positives from that week, because there were certainly way more positives than negatives as we saw leading into the (British Open)."

After getting off to a sluggish start this season, when it took him some time to admit he was off fundamentally, Johnson's swing is back in the groove at crunch time.

"He's back to his old self, and his confidence is back," Bender said.

The only thing holding the 10-year PGA Tour veteran back right now is not taking advantage of his opportunities on the greens.

"That's the only way you can win, you've got to putt good," Bender said. "He's putting good, but he's burning the edges, or his speed is a little off here and there. Putting goes in cycles."